“The hardest part is thinking we pulled the whole country apart when he was just a few miles away from us all along"

The only son of a man whose skeletal remains were found in an abandoned house has told of his agony at discovering he passed the property every day never realising his dad lay dead inside.

John Byrne was last seen alive on February 13, 2009 after leaving his home in Finglas, North Dublin, to meet his friends in town.

But no one heard from him again and John’s fate remained a mystery for four agonising years until his remains were found in July.

A skeleton was discovered at a house near the Royal Canal Way in Phibsboro – less than 5km from where he lived.

Gardai were stumped by the grisly find and released details of the clothes and a watch found on the remains in a bid to identify the corpse.

But John’s devastated son Darren Feehan immediately recognised the items as belonging to his missing dad, bringing to an end the hellish four years of never knowing what had happened to him.

Investigators believe John, who would be 47 now, went into the derelict house to keep warm and died of natural causes.

Opening up about his dad’s tragic disappearance and lonely death for the first time, Darren said his only comfort was that John wasn’t murdered.

And the 26-year-old revealed he passed the spot where John lay dead a few times a day, not knowing he was inside.

Darren told the Irish Mirror: “The hardest part is thinking we pulled the whole country apart when he was just a few miles away from us all along.

“I passed that house three or four times a day going to college, going to meet my friends, never knowing he was there all along.

“I searched everywhere in Phibsboro and one day shortly after he went missing I actually sat in a park opposite that house for hours just crying and wondering where he could be or what could have happened.”

Choking back tears, Darren added: “He went there and died alone. He must have been so lonely but there was no foul play and that’s one small bit of comfort I have.

“I’ll never get over that but it could have been worse, he could have been murdered.

“The circumstances of how he was found are irrelevant. All that matters is somehow my dad ended up dead in that house and I have accepted we’ll never really know why.”

The last time pool champion Darren saw John was a few days before he was last seen alive.

He kissed him goodbye as he always did and watched him walk to the bus stop near his home to catch the bus into town. But unlike all the other days they went through the same routine, his dad never came home.

For four years Darren searched the city for John, refusing to give up hope they would find him alive.

But the agony of not knowing what happened finally got too much for him and he emigrated to Canada in March. Darren was on holiday in the US when a man scouring the abandoned house for scrap metal made the horror discovery.

But because he had no phone with him, Darren had no idea a body had been found until he got back to Toronto two days later and realised his family and gardai had been desperately trying to contact him.

Darren with his
son Sean and

The dad of one said: “Because of the length of time he had been away I just knew he would never go that long without seeing me and now I know he was dead all along.

“We firmly believe he had no reason to take his own life, he wouldn’t have done this on purpose.”

John’s remains were found in a curled-up position in an alcove with a set of drawers pulled in front of it.

And Darren, who graduated from college with a law degree, refuses to believe anyone knew the body was there and ignored it. He added: “I know people were going in and out of that house since dad went in there but he still had a bag with cigarettes in it and his watch was still on his arm so I believe no one spotted him.

“If it’s the case that someone saw him and just panicked and put the wardrobe over his body to hide him then I would rather not know.”

Darren said John was his “best friend” and “a people person”. He added: “I don’t think anyone could find a relationship in the world that was stronger than ours so I just don’t think he would have killed himself. But the truth is we might never know.”

Darren appealed to anyone who owns a derelict property to search it and make sure there is no one dying or dead inside.

He added: “Where my dad was found was somewhere you would never expect so that’s why I’m appealing for anyone who owns a derelict building to please check it. Even if you put just one family out of their misery, my dad’s death won’t have been in vain.”

Tosh Lavery, chair of volunteer group Searching For The Missing, said: “I would ask all the people who have properties that are not occupied, either in the city or the country, to carry out a search.

“I appeal to any person who has information with regards to any missing person to come forward now and help to ease the pain for these families.”